Concert review: B.B. King at Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre

It was a fitting gesture, considering that the eight veteran musicians – familiar faces for years to King’s concert audiences – provided the glue that held together a distressingly uneven performance by the blues legend in front of them.

King always has been chatty on stage, but his rambling was more disjointed than ever in a 75-minute set that yielded both tepid versions of old favorites and inspired, unexpected gems.

File the classic “Sweet Sixteen” under the disappointments, after King lost interest in singing by the mid-point, when he launched into yet another monologue. Alas, the potential humor of such routines often was lost because it was hard to understand what he was saying as he gestured with the microphone.

All the talking was even more of a crime because King’s warm, weathered voice remains a distinctive force, especially on simmering ballads such as “I Need You So.” A year ago at Hard Rock Live, King wisely focused more on the music in a show that was much better than this.

King’s singing melded with a melodic solo by trumpeter Stanley Abernathy on “You Know I Love You,” a highlight that followed the fizzled-out “Sweet Sixteen.” On flute, King’s nephew Walter Riley King also elevated “You Know I Love You” by trading playful licks with his uncle and his famous guitar, Lucille.

In that moment, the band showed its ability to deliver the blues with unconscious ease, but the show ended with a few more bumps. First, King seemed to stump his own band by launching into “Auld Lang Syne,” leaving the musicians to work out an impromptu arrangement behind him on the spot.

“When the Saints Go Marching In” was supposed to be the finale, but it was a long, odd, goodbye.

With members of his entourage impatiently standing next to him with his hat and overcoat, King lingered on the stage to sign autographs for 35 minutes, long after his band had stopped providing background music and left the stage.

It looked like a cross between a religious ritual and a memorabilia convention.

Finally, a voice over the PA system: “Ladies and gentlemen, the show is over and we need you to exit the theater, please.”

King is 88 years old now, as he frequently reminded the crowd. As unimaginable as it seems, it looked on Friday as if it might be time for him to plan a more graceful exit -- one more befitting a legend.